BOTANY. 339 



These doubtless were the roots ofApios tuberosa. But when 

 Champlain, a few years later, was in the same region, he 

 observed that the Almauchiquois Indians near Point Mal- 

 lebarre (Nausett Harbor probably) had " force des racines 

 qu'ils cultivent, lesquelles ont le gout d'artichaut." Sagard- 

 Theodot mentions the cultivation of the sunflower by the 

 Hurons, who extracted oil from its seeds; and he adds that 

 the French called them Can ad ie?i?ies, or pommes de Canada. 

 As to the annual sunflower said by Linnaeus to come from 

 Peru and Mexico, Professor Gray thinks that its original is 

 H. lenticularis of Douglas, which again is probably only a 

 larger form of H. petiolaris of Nuttall, natives of the west- 

 ern part of the Mississippi valley and of the plains to and 

 beyond the Rocky Mountains. 



Living and Fossil Oaks of Europe Compared by De Saporta. 



Before the end of the Miocene, Europe possessed oaks 

 which closely resembled Quercus cerris. They had cupules 

 of the same kind as the one now living, and the fruit matur- 

 ed in the second year. Three species in Auvergne belonged 

 to the type of Quercus robur, and "did not differ from the 

 forms of this group more than these forms differ from one 

 another." Quercus pedunculata, sessiliflora, and pubescens 

 are relatively recent. In the middle of France, at least, these 

 races have been preceded by other oaks, which have since 

 partly disappeared and partly have been confined to a re- 

 gion farther south. On the other hand, species which now 

 occupy only limited stations where they are threatened with 

 extinction, like Quercus cerris in France, appear to have had 

 direct representatives there at at an epoch relatively remote 

 (Naturalist, April, 1877). 



Rapid Growth of Fourcroya. 



From Regel's Garten flora Ave learn that the Fourcroya 

 gigantea which recently flowered in Munich attained a height 

 of about twenty-one feet ; and of this it made nearly half 

 during the month of October. The greatest elongation in 

 twenty-four hours was 6.3 inches, in a day -temperature of 

 92.75 and a night temperature of 56.75. No particulars 

 are given respecting the period of the twenty-four hours in 

 which the maximum intensity of growth took place. At the 



